Can opener



A. CARP CAN OPENER June 23, 1959 Filed April 28, 1958 ment with the cutter wheel. Thus the hand which holds the plier type handles needs to furnish the resilience required for the squeezed cutter and" traction wheels to m ride over inequalities in the can head andiany vertical Patented June 23, 1959 seams thereof. It is awkward to'apply the correct amount CAN B E of tension with one hand while the otheris driving the traction wheel. In the. second place, not all cans are rth' A Carp Fergusomlwo round, some being more or less rectangular, like the Application April 28, 1958, Serial No. 731,200' sardine can illustrated. However, allshapesofcans rotate.

11 Claims; (CL while the cutting operation is going on, unless the handles are released and the'can held, allowi ng. theopener to:

travel around the top; Rectangular and similar nonround. cans, if left to rotate, will arrive at a position sucli1as= shown in Fig. 1, where a substantialpart of the-carrex This invention relates to can openers, and with regard tends along the sidetof the handles to a substantial ex to certain more specific, features, to hand-squeeze can tent. This prevents the handles from being properly openersofthetso called pliertype. gripped to producethe formerly required squeezing,pres"- Among. the: several objects. of the invention may be sure above referred to. In the third place, when both notcdthe provision of'a plier-type canopener which does hands are employed as. stated and the end of the cuttis notirequire. the simultaneous use of two hands'in order to reached, the cutout portion of the can may drop into its.

effect can opening; the provision of a plier-type-can opencontents.

crWhich-makes-more.convenient acan-opening operation, By means of .thepresent invention, after the openeris h ther or not two hands are employed; the provision of initially squeezed into cutting position, the. handles Y are a plier-type can openerrwhich near the end of a can-openno longer required to be squeezed, thus relieving). one ing;operation allows freedomtoftone hand for-holdingand h nd f the necessity-0f having a good 1 7 yt on preventing; the cut.lid;from-falling into the-contents of the plier handles. Thus a hand may be freed and used the" can, thus disposing-of the need. for any magnetic and for removing the cutout portion of the can as it.is. relikedevices heretofore. usedtforsuch. purposes; the-.provileased, and preventing ittfromidropping into the can consion ofa can openenof-the class described which makes it felltsduring the Cutting Operation this d y p0ssible.-to.-open peculiarly shapedtcans '(suchas, for exhold the can whileoperating the traction wheel; allowing ample, sardinercans) (which. were: heretofore difiicult to, thecan opener to..move around thecan margin, whichis open with such-a plier-type;can-wopener; and the provision an operation. that some persons prefer to..1etting the can. ofsuchacan.opener;whichrprovides optimum. conditions Moreover, Ihfi Present inventionpp arcane oftoperation and storage. Other objects and features will Stant resilient handle-kidding Pressure adapted for P be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter. mum Cutting Operations; Finally, as w pp Since The invention ;accordinglyg.comprises the elements d no squeezing pressure is requiredon the handles. toholdl combinations of. elements,- features of construction, and the opener in cutting engagement, the opener may he. sucarrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the cessfully s y children and infirm P structures hereinafter.rdescribed-,- and. the. scope oftwhich Referring now more particularly to the drawings, nu- Will be indicated in thefollowing laims, meral 1 refers to a can, shown in broken lines, which'is In the'accompanying drawings, inwhich: one f va i u of an odd shapesuch as a sardine can, for thepurpose possible embodimentsoftheinvention is illustrated, of illustrati g; t e invention IfiS understood,- Fig. 1 is atplan view of. mynew can opener, showing it however, that the invention is also advantageously? opin cutting position on a sardine can; erable on cans of other shapes, including; round cans-t Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. l; i of all diameters. The latter usually have a vertical (seam Fig. 3l-is ..a. view, similar to Fig. 2, except .that.the can which is required to be traversed during ,the cuttingopopener. is shown :in,l.open.positionand the can .is not er-ation. shown; 9 The opener itself is constituted by pivoted lever mem- Fig, 4 .is across section.;taken on .line.44 of Fig. 2, bers 3 and 5, joined by a pivot pin 7. The lever members showing in. solid lines: a.closed untensioned position of 3 and 5 have plier -type handles 9 and 11, provided with acertain latch springandin dotted lines a tensioned posiexterior stifiening flanges 13 and 15, respectively. The

tion. of said spring;

Fig. 5 .isawiew. similar to Fig. 4,. showing in dotted supports. The usual slopingpintle 17 on lever Scarries lines-acaught position. ofthe latch spring. and in solid a freely rotary sharpened cutter wheel 19. The lever lines the latch spring pushed into limited release position; 5 has a bearing 21 for a rotatable pin 23, to which is flanges also serve as smoothly rounded palm and finger.

and attached a toothed traction wheel 25. When the levers Fig.6 is across section taken on line 6 -6 of Fig. 3. are pivoted on pin 7, the cutter 19 and traction wheel. Corresponding referencecharacters indicate correspond 25 may be brought from the separated position shown.

ing partsth roughoutthe several views'of the drawings. in Fig. 3 to the tangentially adjacent positions shown in So-calledp lier-type canopeners are favored by manu- Figs. 1 and.2. The traction wheel 25 is then positioned faeturers over" many other types of hand-operated can under a can bead such as 27 while the sharpened mar-gin openers because ep s public Prefers portability of the cutter presses the can top within the. bead 27; and"in tinc iv v -kn f0 1186 a p of p A slot 29 in the lever 3 allows relative movement of a Therefore, no directionsare' ordinarily required to be shoulder part 31 of the "traction Wheel; This. shoulder.

furnished to theuser' for can-openingoperations. This extends through the leverlawherethere is attached. a

adyanta ge tothe'manufacturer; however, is offset by cerdrivinghandle-or key 33, for forceably rotatingthe trac-' tain' disadvantages in-the l1ands" of the user; These in: tion wheel 25. The result of such rotation; provided elude the fact that after-the plier likehandles are squeezed the handles 9 and"11 are-heldtogether, is for the traction together for an-initial puncturing operation; they must be wheel 25to progress along the bottom side ofthe bead held together while the other hand operates the handle 27 while the cutterl9 -cuts along the inside of the'bead for rotatingthe'usual tractionwheel',-inorder"to holdthe and removes the can'head; The head is indexed 35; traction wheel against the can head for squeezing engage- Numeral 37 indicates a transverse extension from the 3 lever 3' forengaging the top of the head 27 to prevent tilting of the can or the cutter, as the case may be, as cutting progress is made around its.margin. Numeral 39 indicates a lug for contacting the side of the can, to maintain can alignment with the cutter and traction wheel as such cutting progresses. Ribs 41 are for stiffening purposes; 1

At numeral 43 is shown a bowed ribbon type leaf spring, one end of which is folded over and anchored, as by Welding, to the lever 3 near the base of its handle 9, as shown at 45. The other end of this spring is turned in to form a catch 47, adapted to engage the upper margin of the handle 11 at 49 when the handles 9' and 11 are together. When the handles are separated, the catch 47 is resiliently sprung into sliding engagement with the flat inside of handle 11 (see Figs. 3 and 6). This other end of the spring is also again turned to form a releasing finger pad 51.

- As shown in the drawings, the flange 15 is provided with an extending portion 53, thereby effecting a notch 55 through which the pad 51 is movable. Extension 53 provides outward limiting movement for the unanchored end of the spring 43. However, the notch 55 is deep enough that after the catch 47 is pushed back from the margin 49, the catch 47 and pad 51 may move down to permit handle 11 to be separated from handle 9 (Figs. 3 and 6). Numeral 58 indicates an offset for bringing the sides of the handles 9 and 11 into a more or less common plane, particularly at the stop portions 57.

'Operation' is as follows, starting with the parts as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, wherein the handles 9 and 11 are separated:

An appropriate portion of a can bead is brought into position between the now-separated cutter 19 and traction wheel 25. Then with either hand the handles 9 and 11 are squeezed together, thereby bringing the traction wheel against the bottom side of the bead 27 and forcing the bead behind the cutter 19, the cutter entering the can top 35. Initially the closing action is limited by engagement between two adjacent stop portions 57 on the levers between the handles. This allows the catch 47 freely to spring in behind the margin 49. The angle at 47 is sufliciently oblique that a positive latching engagement is eifected. The action is clear from Fig. 5, wherein it is shown that as the handles 9 and 11 come together the bowed spring moves from the solidto the dotted-line locked position, its initial position when the handles 9 and 11 are open having been as shown in solid lines in Fig. 6.

It should be noted that while the sprung position of the bowed spring 43 changes in Fig. 5, its main curvature does not do so essentially. On the other hand, when, as is the desired purpose of the invention, the hand which initially squeezed the handles 9 and 11 together is removed, then the separating reaction of the bead 27 on the cutter 19 and traction wheel tends to separate the handles, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. However, the bowed spring 43 acts as a resilient latch, its bow tending to straighten as indicated by the dotted lines shown at 59 in Fig. 4.

Now, if desired, the hand may be released from squeezing handles9 and 11, or these now-locked handles may be lightly held (without squeezing, .if desired) and the key 33 turned, thus causing the cutter to progress around the head 27 and remove the top or lid 35. Just before the cutting action is completed, the can top 35 will tilt and the hand that was on handles 9 and 11 may be employed to remove it as the cutting action is completed by final movement of the key 33. Moreover, if desired the hand that is not needed to hold the handles 9 and 11 together may be used to hold the can 1, thus allowing the cutter to progress around it as the key 33 is turned with the other hand. It will also be seen that when the can rotates into the position shown in Fig. 1,

no hand is needed in any good gripping position on 4 handles 9 and 11, which it could not effectively assume in view of the interference from the can at this time.

If any variation in the thickness of a head 27 is encountered, or any vertical seam in the can, the resulting required separating action of the cutter 19 and traction wheel 25 is accommodated by appropriate flattening of the bowed spring 43. Thus the spring acts not only as a catch but as a resilient tensioning device operating across the handles 9 and 11, soas resiliently to tension the cutter 19 and the tr-actionwheel 25 on the bead 27. In this respect the invention is to be distinguished from the mere provision of a rigidly fune-tioninglatch between the handles 9 and 11, which would not allow the neces-- sary resiliency for cutting various sizes of beads" 27 on traversing vertical seams. A vertical seam is illustrated for example at 61 (Fig. 1), although such are usual mostly on round cans.

It will be appreciated that the catch 47 and the margin 49 together form an automatically operative closing latch when the handles 9 and 11 are together, as shownin Fig. 2, and that this latch will not reopen in response? to separating forces. However, it will be understood that the flattening action of the bowed spring 43 allows of some resilient separating movements of the handles.- This provides for resilient movements of, the cutter 19 and the traction wheel 25' as they traverse seams, various sizes of beads 27 or' other can variations.

After a can-opening operation iscompleted, the catch 47 may be pushed aside, thus releasing the handles 9 and 11 for opening. Since 43 is'a spring and should not be excessively deflected, engagement of the pad 51 with the extension 53 upon opening prevents the spring 43 from being bent beyond its elastic limit. This is a fairly important feature since the spring is intended to stretch by flattening out its bow while cutting proceeds, as indicated in Fig. 4. nitely strong against sidewarddeflection; otherwise the flattening action under applied tension will not be effective enough.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not. in a limiting sense. i

I claim:

1. In a plier-type can opener having pivoted levers respectively carrying a cutter wheel and a cooperatively movable hand-driven traction wheel on one side of the pivot and squeeze handles on the other side of the pivot; the improvement consisting of resilient means forming a substantially resilient connection between the handles and having a catch automatically operative when the handles are brought together to place said cutter and traction wheels in cutting relationship under resilient reaction therebetween, the resiliency of said means when the catch is elfective and the hand squeeze removed from said handles being adapted to provide sufficient relative movements under said reactions between said cutter and traction wheels that they will readily traverse various beads and seams on cans to which they are applied as the traction wheel is hand driven.

2. In a plier-type can opener having pivoted levers respectively carrying a cutter wheel and a cooperatively movable hand-driven traction wheel on one side of the pivot and squeeze handles on the other side of the pivot; the improvement consisting of a resilient member mounted on one of the handles and having a catch automatically engageable with a holding part connected with the other handle to form a latch when the handles are squeezed together to move said cutter and traction wheels reactions to, and relativef Thus it cannot be made indefitogether into cutting relationship, the resiliency of said member being adapted to provide relative movements under reactions encountered by said cutter and traction wheels as they traverse various beads and seams on cans to which they are applied for opening purposes.

3. A plier-type can opener according to claim 2, wherein the handle part with which said catch engages to form a latch is provided with means forming a limiting stop adapted to limit deflection of said member upon release of the latch.

4. A plier-type can opener according to claim 2, wherein the handle part with which said catch engages to form a latch is provided with means forming a limiting stop adapted to limit deflection of said member upon release of the latch and including stop means between the handles limiting their application to one another to positions permitting said catch to hold the handles together.

5. A plier-type can opener according to claim 2, wherein said resilient member is constituted by a bowed leaf spring attached at one end to one lever and having a catch at its other end, the part on the other lever engageable with the catch forming therewith the latch which will not reopen under said resilient action.

6. A plier-type can opener according to claim 5, wherein said catch is provided with a finger-operated release part, and means engageable by said release part forming a stop to limit deflection of said spring upon release of the latch.

7. In a plier-type can opener having pivoted levers respectively carrying a cutter wheel and cooperatively movable hand-driven traction wheel on one side of the pivot and squeeze handles on the other side of the pivot; the improvement consisting of a bowed ribbon-type spring anchored rigidly at one end of its bow to one of the handles, the other end of the bow being resiliently free and formed as a catch, the other handle having a part engageable by said catch to form a positively-holding latch when the handles are squeezed together, the resilience of said spring eflecting closure of the latch and its bow being adapted to flatten to provide resilient reaction to the action of said cutter and traction wheels when the latch is closed.

8. In a plier-type can opener having pivoted relatively flat levers respectively carrying a cutter wheel and cooperatively movable hand-driven traction wheel on one side of the pivot and squeeze handles on the other side of the pivot; the improvement consisting of a bowed ribbon-type spring anchored rigidly at one end of its bow to one of the handles, the other end of the bow being resiliently free and formed as a catch resiliently sliding on a flat of the other handle when the handles are open, the other handle having a part engageable by said catch to form a positively-holding latch when the handles are squeezed together, the resilience of said spring etfecting closure of the latch and its bow being adapted to flatten to provide resilient reaction to the action of said cutter and traction wheels when the latch is closed,

9. A plier-type can opener according to claim 8, wherein said other handle carries means limiting latchopening movement of said spring.

10. In a plier-type can opener having cross-pivoted levers having upper and lower parts respectively, said parts respectively carrying a cutter wheel and cooperatively movable key-driven traction wheel, both on one side of the pivot and having connected lower and upper squeeze handles respectively on the other side of the pivot; the improvement consisting of resilient means forming a substantially resilient connection between the handles and having a catch automatically operative between handles when the handles are brought together, to place said cutter and traction wheels in forced cutting relationship under resilient reaction therebetween, and a transverse extension from said upper lever part adapted to engage the top of the can margin, thereby preventing rocking of the can opener when operated by means of one hand actuating the key, the other hand holding the can.

11. A can opener according to claim 10, wherein said resilient means comprises a bowed leaf spring anchored to the lower handle and having an olfset portion adapted for releasable engagement with a holding part on the upper handle when the handles are brought together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,515,487 Jewell Nov. 11, 1924 1,795,478 Davis Mar. 10, 1931 2,237,418 Fender et al Apr. 8, 1941 2,481,609 McLean Sept. 13, 1949 2,498,441 McLean Feb. 21, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 253,607 Germany Nov. 1, 1912 374,558 Great Britain June 16, 1932 603,943 Great Britain June 25, 1948 689,222 Great Britain Mar. 25, 1953 

